Retaliation

CHAPTER EIGHT

Command Container, Russia

Janna had gone from her previous condition to still slightly underweight, but far healthier in the last three days. The biggest improvement had come from her time in the pod after she had eaten three heaped trays of food. Boris had continued to regale her with stories from his past while she ate.

His stories only increased her respect for him.

After Janna’s time in the pod was done, Boris had been put in to reduce the risk to others from his blood. While he was in the medipod, John ran her through a testing regimen, to make sure that she was fit, despite TOM and ADAM’s assurances. Most of that had been simple sparring, but at the end of the session he finally convinced her to spar as hard as she was capable. John was pleased to confirm her strength was back.

Janna still wasn’t actually convinced she had been changed since there was no difference in the way she felt. Perhaps her emotions tilted towards annoyance and frustration more quickly, but that could be because she was not used to inactivity. She realized she did not feel any weaker than before the incident, but also didn’t feel like an animal or anything unusual. No longer looking like a starveling, there did not seem any reason that she should be prevented from at least participating in the ambushes with the rest of her team.

“Why can’t I come with you on this assault? TOM, ADAM, and John all declared me fit. I mean John took me out in training, but he does that to everyone except Gabrielle and Bethany Anne.” Janna was furious. It seemed that her hair color wasn’t all that had changed. Her temper had as well. Rather than the pale platinum blonde she had been born with her hair was now a deep strawberry blonde.

“And would you say this outburst is like you?” Boris asked. “According to your file, which ADAM forwarded to me, you were one of the calmest, most level-headed, most calculating soldiers or junior officers any of your COs had ever had. Weres are more aggressive. Until you get used to it and learn to harness it, you are no good on the battlefield. Consider it a form of rehabilitation. You don’t send a soldier straight back out after recovery.”

Janna’s irritation was evident in her voice, “Then why haven’t you been training me! It’s been three days since I got back. More than one and a half since you finished interrogating those scum.”

All the Weres had been criminals who had joined the NVG after Konrad had arranged for their release from prison. Although Boris was somewhat ambivalent about the executions of two of them, he was pleased overall. Those two had been petty crooks before joining Konrad. The human captive was still in their custody for now. Boris honestly did not care if the prisoner lived or died, but there was more information in his head to be extracted, so his usefulness had not come to an end. Frank, Akio, and Dan were taking care of the extraction of information, so Boris could keep his attention elsewhere.

Barnabas had judged them all. The stay of execution for the remaining prisoner was temporary.

Danislav cautiously interrupted. “And when has he had time, young Bear? When have I had time? When have you had time? I had to reorganize the group I was supposed to lead because of all this. It has been decided that someone needs to stay with the command center for the first few ops. We have all been organizing the plan for the disruption of the three convoys. We have a twelve-hour window for all three operations. Paul is the only one who has slept. He is also the only normal human. He even offered to stay with you.”

Janna’s eyes flashed, and she let off a string of insults in mixed Russian, English, French, and German. Paul corrected her German, which was not particularly helpful but amused him and infuriated her. At one point it looked like Boris would have to step in. Danislav was convinced that Paul was completely mad at this point. He certainly wouldn’t have corrected her.

Boris hid his grin when it happened. They had been serving together for a long time.

“I will start training you tomorrow Janna. If we have prisoners, I will let Danislav and Paul interrogate them. We even have permission from Barnabas to execute future prisoners. They aren’t soldiers. They are an illegal military force that has committed crimes against humanity. Walking down a street and just killing people. Being willing to wipe out an entire town.” Boris said, the anger boiling in his tone.

“We need to get going to the first rendezvous. We will be back.” Boris’s nose was not as sensitive as Danislav’s so he could not understand the underlying fear beneath her frustration. She was afraid Boris was not going to come back. Danislav turned slightly away from Boris and signaled to her that he would keep an eye on Boris.

He hadn’t seen the old bear this happy in years. He didn’t want it to fuck up on him now.

“One weapons convoy. It was supposed to be vital supplies headed for a base near China. Hmm. I guess that close to the border weapons could be considered as such.” Paul spoke into the air

Boris and the others had returned with one captive from the three raids. Apparently, everyone had been a bit over-enthusiastic. But now three of the six groups had a distribution of silver ammo, just in case. Some of the wolves had been unhappy about it, but common sense had, in the end, overcome their hesitation. Only a small fraction of the groups consisted of Weres after all.

The captured heavy weapons had been carried to their vehicles and were being hidden at various locations in the different areas of operations. Some of the supplies and most of the ammunition had been taken, while the rest had been burned.

As a further strategy, they were using the same camouflage that the Chechens used and were careful to leave a torn piece of cloth near each raid. Those bastards had been more active lately, and the deception seemed to be working. Investigators had concluded that Chechen rebels were attacking ‘road convoys’ and the pressure on the government to do something about it was rising from the public and the military. Reserve units had been called up, and that would restrict the NVG as much or more than Boris and his group. All of Boris’ forces came from Siberia, a region with a reputation for staunch Christianity. None were suspected of being Islamists.

After they had debriefed with Frank and ADAM they had breakfast. Paul begged off the interrogation, wanting to sleep but Danislav was more than happy to do it. So Janna insisted on Boris starting her training.

Boris spoke, “The first thing you need to learn now is, even in your human form, you will be stronger.” He pulled out one of the captured weapons he had returned from the raid with. Grabbing the barrel with one hand, he casually bent it. “You will need to be lighter on the trigger of any gun, or you will damage it. They are designed for humans, except my custom AA-12.”

“That’s one thing I am confused by. I have been trying to figure out how a bear could fire a shotgun for the last couple of days. It’s been driving me nuts, to be honest. I can’t see a way.”

“No, in bear form I cannot use it. I have an… in-between shape. I can use it while in that form, but only with drum magazines and only that weapon.“

“Will you show me how to change to that shape?”

Boris raised his hand, quieting her questions. “I cannot show you. I only found the first path to that form when my mother was raped and killed by bandits. It is not something that can be taught. It is something I would not wish on my best friend or worst enemy. It is dangerous, see? In a thousand years, I am the only Were that has been able to take the form and not succumb to the consequences. The anger and frustration you feel? That is nothing compared to what you feel in that shape. It is also addictive.” He closed his eyes. “The power you feel, it is indescribable.” He paused, taking deep breaths. He needed to stay away from such thoughts for now. He needed to avoid that form for a time.

After the pause, he continued. “There are other ways, maybe. But I have no idea how to teach them to you at this time. I would not be willing to take that shape for some time. I have used it perhaps too often recently.”

“You are just trying to hold me back!” she yelled at him. He had, however, prepared for this. He did, after all, know a female Pricolici.

He responded. “Ecaterina will be happy to talk to you about it if you wish. She gave me her contact details if you do not have them already. You can speak to her after we train.” He continued “Your life was turned upside down before you were changed. You need to move past the anger you feel at that. The frustration of the situation you find yourself in. You also need to learn to fight like a bear.”

He raised an eyebrow and turned, starting to remove his clothes, continuing to talk. “Remember three main things. First, unlike an ordinary bear, for whatever reason, I have never found it hard to balance on my hind paws. Use that. It is an advantage. You have claws, use them. You can bite hard, it is a potent weapon, but doing so can expose yourself. Be observant of your situation before you use it.”

He shifted into his bear form. This was one of the few times he’d shifted around another werebear. He had done it before, but it was like there was static in his head. It was perhaps a side effect of the changes that had gotten rid of the headaches, he supposed.

He turned and looked at Janna. She looked a bit freaked out. Shifting from foot to foot she asked “How do you do that? How do you shift like that?” Boris rolled his eyes lifted a paw and pointed it in the direction of the bunker. To be honest, he didn’t remember how. He’d been doing it for so long he just did it. He ambled down to the container and rapped his claws on the open door to get Danislav’s attention. Janna followed him closely.

Danislav looked pissed when he answered but saw that Janna was looking confused, and Boris had chosen to remain a bear. He had some idea of why. Boris had been born and raised a Were — he just changed, he didn’t think about it. Danislav may have been born a Were, but it had taken him years to figure out how to turn, to the frustration of both himself and Boris.

“Watch this guy while I’m gone. If he moves, eat him.” He said to Boris, as much as for the intimidation effect as anything else. Boris was by far the largest bear anyone had seen, easily more than eight hundred kilograms, about twenty percent bigger than the maximum Siberian bears were considered to reach. The only natural bears that might close in on his size were the largest Californian grizzlies or the occasional Kodiak.

He walked off a short distance and said “I can guess the problem. You don’t know how to change, right?” Janna nodded mutely. “One of the things Boris doesn’t really understand is the mechanics of it. Once I figured out how to transform I tried explaining it to him, but he’s done it for so long that he can just do it when he wants. For him, it is all instinctual. He knew I was a Were when he adopted me from the orphanage decades ago. Probably born that way. When I was a teenager, and he was trying to teach me to change, he was stumped too. It has been centuries since he first did it and the first time is always the hardest. Oh, and before you start sparring with him, go for a run.”

He rubbed his ribs “It won’t take you long, but your first half hour or so you’ll be clumsy as hell. So don’t try to spar with him then. You will get hurt if you do, and he’ll blame himself. Neither of you would be to blame of course, but he still will blame himself.”

“He raised you? Why would he do that? I mean I can understand him getting a lone Werewolf child away from ordinary kids, but why didn’t he just hand you over to the pack?” Janna asked

“I’m not sure he knows himself. He’s not like most other werebears, though. Traveling with him I’ve met a few, and they tend to be loners, through and through. Some wolves are that way too. While he might appreciate a few days, even a week alone, there is not a driving need for constant solitude within him. After that he gets lonely. Being pack leader and as feared as he was after the Great Patriotic War, perhaps he just wanted some reliable company.”

Danislav continued “If you like what you are wearing I would suggest that you get undressed. If you stay in those clothes, they’ll be wrecked when you change. Oh, and after you change, a lot of animals will be skittish around you. The predator scent lingers for a time. I don’t know of a were that doesn’t like changing every so often for the hell of it. I’m sure there are some, but it is a lot of fun being an animal.”

He looked to the sky and then back down, “The key is to really want to change. Once you manage to transform there is a kinda switch in your mind’s eye that you can just flick. Then you change. No mystical clap-trap. It’s that simple.”

He turned and headed back to the container. He did not need to see a beautiful woman that his father desired naked. No sirree. At best he’d be seeing a potential stepmother naked. Ick. At worst he’d start falling for her. He didn’t want to cause that sort of tension between Boris and him. He respected the man who had raised him too much to risk it.

Janna stood there for a couple of minutes considering everything that Danislav had just told her. She was plunging into a world of which she had only seen the edges. Well, she had friends in that world already. People who cared for her. First, there was Boris. He had been treating her differently, as if she was emerging from the shadow of his past to a real person in the here and now. And there was Danislav who was treating her as if she belonged and that there was truly a place for her in their world as well. A group that wanted her for her. Not for the skills and tricks she had picked up and learned over the years. Her. It was as if for the first time in her life she understood what family meant. Even if it was a strange conglomerate of a family.

She truly wanted to belong. To do that she had to figure this out. She slowly started undressing, focusing on that desire. She heard Boris lumbering up behind her. Quietly she said. “If I figure this out, please let me try and enjoy the form for a bit first.” She didn’t turn, didn’t look at him, but she heard him lie down. After she had finished undressing, she closed her eyes.

She didn’t notice when Boris rose and moved around to get a better view of her body. It was spectacular. He estimated she had gained an inch or so. With her still in recovery, it was hard to tell what she’d look like an end result. She was healthy now, though. Still underweight, but not looking like a walking skeleton with a thin layer of skin and muscle over the bones. Seeing that she was improving gave Boris a level of calm he hadn’t achieved in a week.

Her focus tightened, and she found the switch that Danislav had talked about. With trepidation, she flicked it… and nothing happened. She cursed out loud but all that came out was a bear’s roar.

She opened her eye and saw she was standing as a bear. Standing felt uncomfortable so she lowered herself to all fours, both stunned and exhilarated by the transformation. She was extraordinarily large for a female bear, taller than normal and at least seven hundred and fifty kilograms in weight. She had brown-grey fur and was similar to Boris in body shape and markings. If she were thought to be a normal bear, a zoologist would describe her as belonging to the Siberian subspecies of brown bear. Though smaller than Boris, the difference in size was not as large as in nature — instead, it was closer to the difference in size in their human forms. Her form would still need to finish filling out but that would come in time. Her muscles would strengthen, and she might still gain a bit more weight.

The world had more scents and… her train of thought was interrupted as she failed to coordinate the movement of all four legs. Her back paws tangled each other, propelling her into a hard fall onto her face. In the back of her mind, she thought she could hear a chuckle. She turned in irritation and stared at Boris, who was facing away from her. Huffing at his back, she started to climb carefully back onto her feet when he turned to look over his shoulder at her. With a challenging roar, he began to run.

Concentration and precise movement were abandoned in her response to the challenge. Scrambling without thought to her feet, she wrenched her body back up and into the exhilaration of the chase. His scent clearly showed the path he traveled, and as she gained confidence, she picked up the pace. Within an hour she was fully confident in the form but was still trailing Boris. His path had formed an arc around their camp, but he was still well ahead of her. The air had a faint metallic scent on it as she got closer to him. When she found him in the clearing, she saw that he had run down a deer. With surprising dexterity, he had also gutted it and put the stomach and intestines in one pile with the offal dumped separately.

He stood his ground, rose to his full immense height, and roared a challenge at her. She knew that he wanted to spar with her. The scent of blood and fresh meat excited her, and she wanted to get past him to the prize displayed on the ground. His plan on how to train her was obviously well thought out. He knew the nature of Weres from hundreds of years of study, Janna doubted he was challenged with how to engage her bear form.

For the next hour, she tried to get past him as her hunger and frustration increased. His defense of the carcass and her desire for the food pushed her into trying to maul him with her claws, attacking him from either side to no avail. Eventually, she saw him come in a little slowly with one of his forepaws, and she swung back out of its path and bit it. Hard. He backed off and let her pass.

After the intensive exercise, she was famished, and her nose led her straight to the pile of offal. Without thinking about it, she ate the entire pile, finding it far tastier than she had as a human. Finishing, she saw that Boris had slung the gutted carcass over his back. As her head rose from her meal, he made a soft sound to get her attention and started heading back towards the camp.